An occupant sitting in a rear center seat behind an open area has limited protection during a frontal impact event if there is no airbag system located in an area in front of such an occupant, with protection potentially being limited to that provided by seatbelts. An airbag that bridges a gap between two seatbacks and has a constant cross-sectional area may be prone to being deflected and not providing the desired resistance to impingement thereagainst by an occupant.